About the Author

Stephen Stockwell is Professor Emeritus in Journalism and Communication at Griffith University. He has been a wordsmith courting controversy for more than 50 years. Previously he worked as a journalist, press secretary and political campaigner, played in Brisbane punk band, The Black Assassins, wrote for the Cane Toad Times 1983-91 and made independent films and videos such as BrainBlast. He taught at Griffith on the Gold Coast 1996-2016 and produced over 50 academic papers and book chapters and five books including The Secret History of Democracy (with Ben Isakhan). Since retiring he has been travelling and writing poetry. His epic poems about the explorer Magellan and beat poet Allen Ginsberg were published in The Voyage and the Vision in 2021. He lives at Burleigh Heads on the land of the Kombumerri clan of the Yugambeh people.